


below the circled stars that carry me

by awerewolf



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, one shot series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-17 12:18:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10593858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awerewolf/pseuds/awerewolf
Summary: Series of one shots, marked as completed because the chapters don't connect together.Begins with a movie night for two.





	1. Chapter 1

As the movie came to a close, Sara stretched her arms. Her legs were draped across Jaal’s lap as they both lounged on the couch in her quarters, enjoying some much-needed time together. They had decided to host their own private movie night, which had accidentally gone on for the entire week. Her room was only a little trashed.

A warm, large throw blanket was covering Jaal’s legs along with her own. Empty drink cans littered the coffee table, and pijack was picking through the slightly overfilled garbage can in the corner filled with microwavable noodle cups. Sara could only imagine what Lexi would have to say about their week of binge watching and junk eating, but she deserved a little break after the hell she had gone through.

“I don’t get it.” Jaal said, his hands coming to rest on her legs. “She loved him for who he was, but he turned into a human? Why wasn’t she disappointed that the man she loved had changed so much?”

“That’s a big theory among people who know the story.” She shrugged. “If you changed into a weird looking human I’d be disappointed but I would still love you. It would just take some getting used to. His voice being different is what really gets me. It would freak me out if you didn’t sound like you anymore.”

“And why would the sorceress punish the servants of the castle, why not just the prince?”

“Well according to the story, the prince was like twelve years old when she cursed him anyway. Sounds like the sorceress was just an asshole.”

Jaal scowled. “Human stories are so strange. Like the story about the ring, there were hardly any true humans in that story, but I couldn’t tell because they all looked like humans anyway.”

“Elves have pointy ears.” Sara leaned forward and poked the side of his head. “Duh.”

He had turned off the credits and was flipping through the other movies in their collection from the Nexus. “What’s this? It’s titled _Asari Blue Moon_. We could watch that next.”

“No, no way.” She pulled the remote out of his hands. “I cry every time I watch that stupid movie.”

“Oh?” His eyes lit up with interest. “Now you have to tell me about it, at least.”

She sighed. “It’s about this Asari commander who falls in love with a human civilian. Her duties take her away from her love and so she fights to end the war to get back. When the war is over, the commander cries tears of joy, but when she returns to be reunited with her love, she finds that many years have passed since she left and she didn’t realize. Her love grew old and frail in her absence, and no longer remembers her or anyone else. The movie ends with her staying to care for her love in their final years.”

“That’s… very sad.”

“I know! That’s why I cry!” She leaned back on the arm rest of the couch. “And the acting is so good! And the soundtrack! Ugh, I would probably cry just hearing that song they play when the commander is fighting her final battle!”

“You realize we have to watch it now.”

“No!” She held the remote close to her chest. “I can’t deal with that right now. Let’s watch…” She flipped through the movies at lightning speed and his translator couldn’t keep up. “Let’s watch something scary.”

“What? Why would we want to do that?”

“Angara don’t have scary movies?”

“Of course not. Why would you want to feel scared?”

“Sometimes it’s thrilling.” She explained. “To be scared of something, and it’s not really real. Like, there’s a monster but that monster’s never going to actually come and get you. It’s all just make believe.” Jaal didn’t look convinced. “We could watch _Alien_.”

“Really?” He smirked. “Are you sure that’s not in poor taste?”

“You haven’t seen Aliens like these, bucko. Let’s hope we never do, either. These fucks are scary.” She pulled up a thumbnail from the movie.

Jaal made a noise of disgust. “And I thought the kett were frightening.”

“That’s another thing about horror movies. There’s a little bit of delight in seeing something so weird, isn’t there?”

He was still staring at the thumbnail with a scrunched look on his face. “That’s an odd way of putting it, but… I suppose.”

“We’re watching this movie now, even if I have to tie you to this couch.” She clicked it on.

He chuckled. “Fine, but next we’re watching the sad one.”


	2. Chapter 2

Voeld was bright and beautiful, as always. Techiix was packed full of angara for a holiday that Sara couldn't fully pronounce the name of, not with her human tongue. She sat outside the daar, feeling out of place. She couldn't eat their food, she didn't know their songs, she wasn't family, she didn't know their traditions...

She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to strave off the awkward feeling stirring in her gut. She felt like she was in high school again with how desperate she was to be accepted by the angara. She knew if Scott were there he'd be on her case about how she always wanted everyone to like her, the impossible dream. He was one to talk with his class clown, funny man antics. They were both desperate people pleasers at heart. She smiled sadly at the thought.

"Sara," She turned to see Jaal approaching. He seemed more at ease than usual. Perhaps it was the holiday, and being able to spend time among his own people. She wondered if he tired of all the aliens aboard the Tempest sometimes.

"Don't let me interrupt your fun." She said. "I'm just taking a break and enjoying the view."

"Then I shall join you." He lowered himself next to her, his longer legs dangling off the short ledge, nearly touching the snow. "Are you not cold?"

She shrugged. "A little, but I'll live. As long as I'm not out in the wind or knee deep in snow, I should be okay."

He blinked. "Your face is very red. Especially your ears and nose."

"Blood is pooling to my outer extremities to keep them warm and prevent frostbite. Human blood is red, not blue, so you're seeing an increased amount of blood through my skin."

Jaal sighed. "Do you always say things like this?"

"Pretty much," She chuckled.

Silence sat between them for a while as they both stared out at the snowy hills. She remembered playing with Scott in the snow as a child, and Mom taking pictures of them together. She wondered where those pictures were now.

"Do angara ever have fun in the snow? Like, play in it?" Sara asked.

"As children, we would melt snow into plates with our hands and throw them like disks. At least, until someone got hurt and all of us got in trouble." He replied. "We would also bury ourselves in the snow to frighten each other."

She laughed. "We would make snowmen sometimes."

He fixed her with a strange look. "With some sort of technology, I assume?"

"Nah, just hands, sticks, and rocks." She hopped down off where they sat. "I'll show you."

It took her longer than she would've liked to form the base, but the snow was so powdery that it wouldn't hold its shape. Once Jaal realized what she was doing, he helped out some.

Finally, she took two pieces of rubble and stuck it on as eyes, drawing a smile with her finger. He was uneven and lumpy, his eyes were too big, and he had no arms, but apparently he was the first snowman in Andromeda.

"He doesn't look like a human." Jaal said, crossing his arms.

"Humans aren't made of snow." Sara smirked. "We could take our time and make a krogan. Surprise Drack."

"There's a better idea." Then after a moment, Jaal reached out and pushed the snowman over. "Why was that so satisfying?"

**Author's Note:**

> If you have a request/suggestion for a chapter, send it to me @pinkjaal at tumblr.


End file.
